I'm really worried .. please help

[Maxx]

Hi,

A bit of background (full intro here : http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=45766). A few weeks ago we bought a house and inherited 2 x 44gall fishtanks + stock, prior to this I hadn't so much as kept a goldfish.

We got some help from some slightly knowledgable friends and all seemed well until I noticed we had probs with our Clown Loaches. Reading this forum it looked like ICH/Whitspot - I rang a local small LFS and got the owner round. He said he's got Whitespot/Velvet and Fin Rot. He said the water parameters were fine, everything else as OK etc. and advised we get some Protozin and treat the Whitespot/Velvet first. If there are still problems we should then use Myxazin for the Fin Rot (after 4 clear days after Protozin Treatment).

The Protozin bottle said treat on days 1,2,3 and 6, yesterday was day 3.

The dosage instruction were 5ml per 33galls, but also said use 1/2 dosage if you have scale-less species (i.e. loach). My tank is about 44galls so I used around 4-5ml (hard to measure exactly).

There did appear to be a little improvent by day 2, in that they seemed a little more active and "slightly" less dusty.

Looking at them today has been very upsetting as they seem to be getting worse .. in that they are less active, even MORE dusty and appear to be losing tail-fin.

As I said, I know virtually nothing at the moment, not sure if this is caused by fin-rot etc. not sure if it's the Fin Rot that is making them more dusty and listless.

What is worrying me is that .. if I keep to the treatment regime I won't be able to give them any medication for fin rot until next Saturday (final Protozin due Tuesday, then 4 days later I can apply Myxazin).

BTW, the loaches are 1 x 4"-5" (medium health, no major visible fin rot, but still quite dusty) and 3 x 2" (poor health, listless, heavy breathing, lots of dust and visible loss of tail fin).

BELOW ARE SOME PICS OF ONE OF THE 2"

I'm really wondering what else I can do, I really don't want to lose these little fellas.

I'm wondering if it's very bad fin rot, whether I should miss Tuesdays Protozin which will let me bring forward the Myxozin to Wednesday or should I stick to the plan.

IS there ANYTHING else I can do to help i.e. temperature changes (running at about 26-27 at the moment).

I've not done any water change as I'm not yet confident in the quality of water I add plus of course I want to keep the medication intact.

I'M ALSO WONDERING if some of my other fish (in particular 1 x 2" Skunk Loach and a 6" Leopard Loach) might be nipping at their fins. I've never seen them do this before or now - would they do this? they often get into a bit of a huddle (the softie in me thinks they are just playing).

I could really use any help and advice on offer here - even if it's just keep doin what I'm doin.

TIA.

M

 

[semper fi]

did you take the carbon out of the filter before adding the meds? this is a amistake that most new fishkeepers will make. carbon will remove the meds from the tank making treatment ineffective.

you said that you have yet to do a water change? have you tested the water? poor water quality can cause fin rot

 

[Jae1525]

Wow. Those little guys look sick.

I'm with semper on this one.
Water changes will help them out no end I think. Maybe a nice 30% or so.
(I was wondering how a water change would effect the treatment of the fish as it would obv dilute the protozin???)
If your using plus and cycle you cant go wrong with the old water changes and a double dose of cycle will help as it says on the lable.

Maybe you could move the loaches into one of the tanks by themselvs in case they are being harrassed. This would mean treating both tanks tho.

What exacly did your lfs guy test for? Did you get a copy of the results?
I dont fully trust the lfs guys anwhere and would prob invest in a full test kit even tho they are £40 they last for ages and in the long run could save you a lot of cash spent continuosly replacing fish! It also gives you great pice of mind knowing that you can check the water anytime you like and spot problems fast.

Its good to remember that we cant win them all esp when we come on late in the game! Sounds like your doing your level best to help the fish and thats all us fish lovers can ask of you!

Chin up!

 

[canarsie11]

He looks bad

 

[Maxx]

Thanks to all for the help and advice.

semper : I haven't touched the filters as they are under-gravel ones. The LFS guy tested the water and said it was OK but I didn't see any hard figures and he didn't leave anything - he said I can take a cup into his shop and he will test it there for me, which I will do tomorrow (been working all day today).

Jae1525 : I had some major work done on the tanks about 4 weeks ago to bring them up to scratch, new under-gravel filters etc. This was basically to get them in good order so I could start looking after them properly. I think the prev owner neglected them a bit as we did have 2 or 3 delays in actually exchanging contracts which delayed thing about 6 weeks.

I really want to get a test kit and try and become fairly self-sufficient, in fact I wanted to pick one up when I bought the meds but the variety and different types of stuff was bewildering, there seemed to be different kits for different things. In the end I just came back with the meds - I recall reading something in these forums about the best test kit to buy - what do you guys recommend?

If the water quality is good (after I get it tested tomorrow) should I still do a big water change (i.e. 30% as suggested?) - Again, I'm not sure about the whole process, what to do about temperature (of the added water), does it need testing first/treating in any way?

What, if anything can I do about the filters? (i.e. carbon) - should I perhaps up the dose a little? or will the filters negate it fully?

I do have the 2nd tank which has 3 x big tin-foils (6-8", 6 catfish 5-6" and 3 x small (1.5") Color Tetras, I could try and put them in that but, as you say I'd need to re-medicate and I'm not sure if I've gotten rid of the Velvet/Whitespot fully.

As far as I know, I cannot treat the Fin Rot until 4 days after finishing the Protozin treatment.

I'm not working tomorrow so will try and sort out the best course of action.

M.